Adventures in kissing
by MarlleneMilton
Summary: Bilbo is a thief, in a sense
1. Chapter 1

Bilbo and Thorin have known each other for many years, since Bilbo transferred from Hobbiton school to the Blue Mountains. It was only for the last three years of the basic education he was reguired to get. Bilbo's parents had no choice but to move out of the Shire when the rent got too high for them to pay, after their not so distant relative Lobelia married the mayor. And people say blood is thicker than water.

Bilbo didn't mind the change at first. He felt as if he never really fitted between other kids in Hobbiton and so he had hoped this would work better for him. His first day at school made him change his mind completely. It was the first day he met Thorin.

Thorin was one of the popular kids. His family was rich, he was very handsome and had a good head on his shoulders. He was always surrounded with his group of dwarves, as they called themselves, but nobody knew where the name came from. All of them had either long hair with intricate braids or other utterly bizzare hair style. Most of them were sturdy compared to Bilbo who was small and plump, with no chance of ever being muscular as he very well knew, but never cared about.

The group noticed him right after he had entered the school. At first he thought they were going to help him around. After asking them for directions to his first class, Thorin took it upon himself to explain him the way. Let's just say, Bilbo ended up in the principal's office after trying to break into a stock room because of what his kind new friend said about the door being always stuck. This led to him being late for his first class which he shared, not so much to his surprise, with the dwarves and their charming leader. Since that day the school changed into a battlefield between Bilbo and Thorin. They were constantly at each other's throats, Thorin making fun of Bilbo's unusually large feet during sport classes and his inability to score in any game. Bilbo got his own back on him during Knowledge Competitions. The teachers liked Bilbo almost constantly. He was the image of a perfect student - clever, assertive and modest. It actually helped him a lot when he got into trouble, or more like when Thorin got him into some against Bilbo's will.

All this happened a long time ago. Nowadays were these two what you could call best mates. How did it happen? Quite unexpectedly, actually.

Bilbo was about to start his last year at the Blue Mountains when it was decided that because the school didn't have enough money to function on it's own, it would merge together with the highly financed Great Goblin institution. For Bilbo it meant more new people and more opportunities for him to make friends. This wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the generally known fact that to the GGI went only the worst kids in the area, usually extremely rich, but of the worst kind. And to Bilbo's luck, his looks that were different from anything in the GGI, cought the eye of Azog and his Orcs.

Right after the new school year started, Bilbo got Thorin into a nasty detention as a payback for getting a whole pack of gums in his hair at the end of the last year. His hair still hasn't grown back yet. As much as Bilbo tried to focus on studying and not giving Thorin easy opportunities for pranks, he noticed that one of the big boys from GGI kept staring at him and not in a good way. He tried not to be alone, mixing with the crowd as quickly as he could and quick he really was. But unfortunately for Bilbo, he was still small and powerless against 6 boys with hands as large as his feet.

Azog grabbed him roughly and led him away from the stream of rushing students. Then there was a hand in his hair and a kick in his belly. Bilbo tasted the blood that gathered in his mouth after a thick fist connected with his face. There were insults about his riddiculous clothes and feet that as they said, would fit better a blockheaded alien.

"AZOG!"

Bilbo and the attackers turned after the voice. It was Thorin and he looked absolutely furious.

"Go away, Oakenshield. This doesn't concern you."

"You're wrong there. Let him go." Thorin's eyes were blazing and if looks could kill, Azog would probably win a prize for dying with each new breath.

Azog sneered and beckoned the others to deal with the intruders. Bilbo didn't know much of what happened after as his head was throbbing and the taste of his own blood was making him sick.

Then someone was kneeling in front of him. "Are you alright?" Thorin asked.

"Could be better." Bilbo looked around, but didn't see any of the Orcs or Azog anywhere, only the Dwarves and Thorin, who was still looking at him with concern.

"Thank you. What were you doing here anyway?"

"You didn't come to the History class and you never miss them, so we went looking for you." Thorin grinned at him.

And that is how their friendship started. They still pulled pranks at each other, but they didn't have the feel of enemosity anymore. Thorin's group accepted Bilbo surprisingly quickly and he made friends with them in no time.

After graduating successfully, both Thorin and Bilbo went to Beorn's training institute, which was a preparation for university. Those 3 years they spent there were a bliss. The whole group spent almost every moment together and they had the time of their lives. They even tried to get Bilbo into football, but he didn't like it and would always say that his feet were like this for a reason which defenitely didn't involve his chasing after a ball.

But all good things must come to an end. As much as Bilbo and Thorin were best friends and would die for each other, they were completely different. So it wasn't such a surprise that they went to different universities. Thorin went to Erebor University starting Politics and Diplomacy, while Bilbo chose to follow his love for languages and signed up for the Origins of Ancient Languages at Rivendell University.

It became quite difficult for them to see each other often and even more for the whole group to get together as some of them started working or went to Mirkwood Institute, which was quite far away from the other universities.

Although, there was one tradition Bilbo with Thorin managed to keep. Sleepovers were something they had been doing for many years and refused to stop because of something as stupid as university. They were usually at Thorin's because the place was much bigger and they didn't bother the rest of the family which left them alone in return. At the beginning the nights were spent with them playing video games and arguing about them. Later they moved to watching movies, but the fights were still the same or even bigger. They could spend the whole night arguing about what is better if Star Trek or Star Wars and never actually reach an agreement.

Tonight wasn't any different. Bilbo made Thorin watch the last Harry Potter movie, but Thorin kept pointing out how illogical the whole quarell between Harry and Voldemort was and then that someone as powerful as the Dark Lord would never be so stupid to lose so patheticly. Bilbo knew it was a lost battle for him from the beginning, but he enjoyed their little fights about movies and he knew Thorin did as well.

It was after 4am when they finally finished the discussion and went to bed. This means they made their sleeping arrangements on the floor as Thorin had only one bed and refused to sleep in it if Bilbo was sleeping on the floor. Of course, considering the size of the house, there was another option that Bilbo would sleep in a different room, which they both refused right after Thorin's mum had suggested it all those years ago. She never mentioned it again.

There was a crash somewhere in the kitchen that woke Bilbo up, but wasn't loud enough to have the same effect on his friend who was used to it. He snuggled back into the blankets comfortably and was about to get back to sleep when his eyes fell on Thorin's face. He seemed even more good-looking than usually as his face was relaxed and without the usual frown upon it. Bilbo unconsciously lifted himself on his elbow to look closer at his friend's face. He's been attracted to Thorin since like forever, even when they hated each other at the beginning, so he couldn't argue the fact that Thorin was uncommonly handsome. Knowing him better and finding out how he cared about his family and friends, and how good a heart he really had, didn't help Bilbo with his problem at all. But he never thought about telling Thorin about his feelings or actiong on them. He was glad to have such an amazing friendship and he wouldn't want to lose it for anything in the world. Besides, Thorin liked only girls, Bilbo was sure of it. He never had a boyfriend or showed any interest in boys, only in girls. Not that he'd dated many of them, he always found a flaw in them or after being with them for a while, he broke up with them justifying it that there was something missing.

Without knowing what he was doing, Bilbo leaned even closer to him and brushed his lips over Thorin's. He pulled away immediately when he realised what he had done, waiting for Thorin to wake up and throw him out of the house. They weren't kids anymore, they could talk about this as adults, but Thorin was hot-tempered and Bilbo was afraid he really screwed up this time. But to his luck, Thorin didn't move at all and stayed in his deep sleep without any idea that Bilbo was freaking out right next to him.

Bilbo's heart was racing and his palms started to sweat. What was he thinking? Using Thorin's vulnerable sleeping state for his own pleasure. It was unacceptable! He stood up and went to the bathroom to calm down his shaking body. There was no way he could get much sleep after this. The bathroom offered a temporary sanctuary that Bilbo didn't feel like leaving any time soon. It was after about an hour later, which to Bilbo seemed no more than a minute, when he heard Thorin shuffling around the room when he realised he would have to do precisely that.

"Bilbo? Are you getting out of there any time this year?" Shit! Thorin must have been awake for longer than he had originaly thought.

"Yeah, I just feel a bit sick. I'll be out in a minute." He tried to keep his voice steady, but his heart betrayed him and started pounding again.

"Told you not to eat ice cream with Pringles." Thorin laughed at him. "Take as long as you need. I'll go to the other bathroom." With that he left the room and Bilbo released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

After what seemed like an age, he managed to leave the bathroom, quickly gathered his things and rushed out of the room. Thorin was in the kitchen, humming while making breakfast. He was wearing only his night trousers which hanged quite low if you asked Bilbo about it. Thorin was just taking eggs out of the fridge when he spotted Bilbo whose eyes were glued to the back muscles flexing with Thorin's every movement. This was getting worse with every second. He needed to get out. Now!

Thorin smiled at him and offered him breakfast, but Bilbo thought only about leaving.

"No, I don't think I'd be able to keep it in. I'd better go, I'll see you soon, ok? Bye." And he was gone before Thorin could reply anything. Bilbo's head was spinning from rushing out of the house so quickly, but he had to get out of there before he did something stupid such as throwing himself at Thorin and pressing his fingers in the firm shoulders.


	2. Chapter 2

The next time they saw each other, Bilbo had trouble looking Thorin in the eyes. His mind kept repeating the kiss over and over again. He was arguing with himself that it was just a short moment, not a big deal. But explain that to his stupid and riddiculously in love heart. Fortunately for him, the exam period started for both of them so they barely saw each other at all and all the stress of studying kept Bilbo's mind occupied enough for him not to think about anything else.

After all the exams were dealt with, succesfully of course, things went back to normal. One evening the whole group went out for drinks and ended up in Bombur's house sprawled on every place they could find to be at least a bit comfortable.

Somewhere in the night Bilbo woke up from a vivid dream, still quite drunk. He crawled over to the opposite sofa where Thorin was lying, soundly asleep, he stopped in front of his friend and watched Thorin's chest moving for a moment. Bilbo giggled quietly and then he was moving towards the sleeping face and kissed Thorin just as lightly as the last time, but if his lips lingered a bit longer, it was the alcohol's doing, obviously.

After this night, during ever sleepover since, Bilbo would wait until Thorin was asleep and then would steal quick kisses. It was his little secret that no one would ever know. It made him smile when he remembered it during not the most convenient situations, making people around wonder what he was thinking about. Oh, if they knew!

As much as Bilbo knew how wrong it was what he's been doing, he couldn't stop. The line was already crossed and he was too far gone to turn back now. The feel of Thorin's lips under his was too tempting and too delicious to give up when he knew the taste.

It was almost Christmas and Bilbo was overwhelmed with his relatives' invites to their parties. It would make you think that his relatives must like him very much, wouldn't it? But Bilbo knew they only wanted him there to show him, how much better their life in Hobbiton was. Yes, I mean Lobelia and her lot. Showing off their wealth has always been their hobby, but Bilbo had no intention of indulging them in it. So he declined every single invitation with the only excuse he could think of, which was almost the truth, that he would spent this Christmas with his family, helping his mother taking care of his ill father. It sounded more severy than it actually was, his father had nothing more than a common flu, but they didn't need to know that.

Also, this was not all. Of course there would be time he would spend with Thorin. His parents would go to the mountains as every year and Bilbo was surprised to find out that Thorin wouldn't join them this year. He justified it that his parents were afraid of the great ski slopes and it got boring after the first day. This meant that they would have the whole house for themselves. Some of the others would join them, Balin promised to get away from work for a while, Bombur would leave the children with his mother-in-law and come too. They already knew not to expect Dwalin as he was on "pre-wedding honeymoon" with Ori, a young scribe from a library. Everyone was surprised that Dwalin went to the library in the first place, but introducing this shy student, wearing at least three scarves around his head as his boyfriend was even bigger shock. Love is a strange thing indeed, Bilbo wondered.

It was two days after Christmas Eve when Bilbo found himself in the Durin Mansion again. It was far from a mansion, but he loved teasing Thorin about his family living like some sort of royalty from old times. Thorin fitted perfectly for the role of a crown prince, with his stern look and majesty he carried naturally with him, wearing a dark blue coat with furs over the shoulders, sitting on a massive throne and Bilbo should really stop thinking about this.

The third day of Bilbo's stay, a few hours after Bofur and Bifur left, it started snowing for the first time in the year. It didn't stop during the night and in the morning they found out they were completely snowed in. Thankfully, as Bilbo thought, Thorin had made sure that the house was filled with food to feed them and all their friends for the whole week, but as they were alone, it would last longer if they had a need for it.

Today Bilbo persuaded Thorin to go out in the snow. They had to use a window to get out and Thorin had to help Bilbo to get through, which was a little embarassing, but he quickly forgot about that when they both fell face down into the hoards of snow. It was everywhere! Bilbo tried to trudge through, but he gave up soon and ended up lying on his back and laughing till he couldn't catch his breathe. They spent the whole afternoon throwing snow balls, but then resided to building a castle. It was built into a mountain, which was Thorin's idea, with a small town nearby. If anyone saw them that day, they wouldn't have guessed them more than 15 years probably, but who cares about age when you're having fun.

Bilbo was exhausted when they finally went back, through the window mind you, and couldn't wait to get something to eat. Which prooved to be a problem as neither of them had the energy to cook, so Thorin put a pizza in the oven and you can guess what happened next.

"You really ate all of it?" Thorin was looking at the empty plate where only a few minutes ago was a whole fresh pizza.

"I was hungry! Besides it's your problem that you weren't here."

"I was in the bathroom! And it's not like I've been there for half an hour."

Bilbo refused to feel guilty as he knew there were more pizzas in the fridge. Thorin was still muttering something when they started watching Pacific Rim, but it quickly cought his attention enough for Bilbo to steal another slice.

"A fight? Really? That's what you need to decide whether you let the person in your head? This is absurd!" Thorin threw his arms in the air went to get another beer.

"No, it's not. I think it's very clever actually."

Thorin sat back down and gave Bilbo the other bottle of beer he brought.

"Oh, really? How? How is the fact that one can or can't defeat the other any proof of compatibility?"

"You have to look beyond the fight." Bilbo put his bottle on the table and sat on his legs.

"If one of them defeats the other too easily, it's obvious they're not balanced and that's what you need in the rift. These two work perfectly together, just look at it, it's not a fight, it's a dance!"

Thorin look sceptically at the TV and then back at Bilbo.

"I think they filled your head with nonsense in that school of yours."

Bilbo refused to let Thorin win this one and got into a long monologue about the fight representing their inner qualities and how they learn about each other during the fight. Thorin gave up eventually and they went back to the rest of the movie. As much as Thorin didn't want to watch it at first and pointed out every detail he didn't like, he got so engrossed in it later that even Bilbo had a hard time catching up with his comments.

Thorin was a long while asleep, but Bilbo couldn't make his brain stop. It kept showing him the most insignificant moments with Thorin it could find and make them look like something more than they were. It was time to stop this nonsense, Bilbo thought. It would only cause him more pain and it was getting too much for him already. Why wasn't there a book on loving your best friend in the wrong way? He knew he wasn't the only one or the first one to be in a situation as such, but how to get out of it? How to stop his heart from beating rapidly every time Thorin smiled at him? No matter how hard it would be, he had to do it.

Bilbo turned to his side and looked at his friend. Tonight was one of the last night's of the year. Alright, he would give himself these few days and then, when the New Year comes, he would bury his feelings deep and find a way how to get rid of them completely.

But not yet. Bilbo drew nearer to the other sleeping mat and watched the calm, beautiful face. He lost count of how many times he's done it, but tonight would be the last time. He leaned closer and closed his eyes when his lips touched Thorin's. Bilbo wanted to savour the feeling and keep the memory of it forever.

His heart leapt when suddenly a big hand weaved its way through his curls and the lips pressed back into his. Bilbo pulled away quickly with eyes widen in shock. Busted!

They were staring at each other. Bilbo was trying hopelessly to find something to say, but without success so he just kept staring at his friend. Thorin's face slowly changed into a smile.

"I knew it felt too real to be just a dream." Thorin whispered and his smile got wider.

"You-you're not angry with me." Bilbo was still not sure if he shoud try to run away or not. Probably jump into the snow and stay there until he froze.

"No. I just wish you didn't stop." Thorin raised himself on elbows with his eyes never leaving Bilbo's.

"I never dared to hope that you might think about me that way." Wh-what? Did Thorin just say that?

"YOU never dared to hope?" Bilbo asked increduously unable to keep his voice down. Thorin's brows furrowed at this.

"Just look at you. You could have anyone you want." This made Thorin's face change into the most confused look Bilbo has ever seen on him and probably at any different time he would find it adorable, but right now he didn't have any space in his head left for it. Thorin quickly looked down at himself and then back at Bilbo, still with the same perplexed face, but also with something else in there.

"Does that include you as well?" Bilbo couldn't look at him anymore. His face was hot and definitely completely red. From the corner of his eye he felt Thorin moving and then felt his breath on his cheek.

"Because I don't want anyone but you."

Bilbo slowly turned to him again.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't you?" Thorin shot back. They were still very close and neither of them made a move to either pull back or close the distance between them.

Bilbo looked into Thorin's eyes and what he saw took his breath away. Thorin was looking at him with such hope and affection that he didn't argue with himself anymore and finally leaned in and kissed him.

It felt so right and so much better than his stolen kisses. Thorin responded immediately, pulling the smaller body close to his. It felt like both of them were starving their whole life and now they finally got what they needed to survive. After several minutes when they finally separated, Bilbo found himself in Thorin's lap and his fingers were buried in his dark hair.

Bilbo was totally overwhelmed with emotions filling his heart. He couldn't believe that this was happening. Thorin was nuzzling his neck at the moment and stroking his back.

"Thank you, Thorin." Bilbo whispered in his hair.

"For what?"

"For being my Christmas present."


End file.
